Lemurs

FEATURED ARTICLES ABOUT LEMURS - PAGE 4

Life is grim these days at the Philadelphia Zoo. The world's oldest zoo is recovering from a Christmas Eve fire that killed 23 primates -- all of them endangered species. The fire, in a ceiling of the primate house, was caused by a faulty smoke alarm and wiring, officials said Wednesday. Also, zoo guards said they had smelled the smoke hours before reporting the fire, but thought it had come from fires that often burn in a nearby railroad yard. The zoo is planning a memorial for the animals, which included its entire collection of gorillas, orangutans and white-handed gibbons as well as 10 rare lemurs.

Imagine vast herds of zebras gazelles and wildebeests -- millions of animals -- migrating over a plain of grassland that goes on forever, watched hungrily by lions and cheetahs. Imagine giraffes loping freely across the savanna, seemingly in slow motion. Elephants, hyenas. A rare rhino. Dust turning the sunset an even deeper red. This is the Africa of our fantasies, and despite pressure from poachers and the inevitable incursions of modernity (which, of course, includes tourism), it still exists, in this place, as we have imagined it since childhood.

(Reuters) - More than two dozen animals, including some exotic species, have been recovered from a residential garage in suburban Detroit and taken to the Detroit Zoo for care, the zoo said on Thursday. The animals were found in small cages in the garage on Wednesday after an animal control officer found a coati wandering in a neighborhood in Warren, Michigan, the zoo said. "The conditions these animals were being kept in were deplorable," Elizabeth Arbaugh, the zoo's curator of mammals, said in a statement, adding they appeared to be in relatively good health considering the environment.

By Mary Harris Russell. Mary Harris Russell, who teaches English at Indiana University Northwest, reviews children's books each week for the Tribune | May 21, 2000

Ages 9-12 years DUTCH SNEAKERS AND FLEA-KEEPERS By Calef Brown Houghton Mifflin, $15 You certainly can't tell this book by its cover, unless you said "odd," and then you'd be right. Fourteen short poems, in a style somewhere between Edward Lear and Ogden Nash, tell tiny stories of quirky events. There's Little Ned, who can't stop scratching the rash on the back of his neck. The doctor's solution: one of those plastic adjustable cones, the kind you've seen on some truly embarrassed-looking canine leaving the vet's office.

We interviewed the Kratt brothers, the creators and hosts of the Emmy Award-winning PBS kids shows "Zoboomafoo" and "Kratts' Creatures," at the Central Park Zoo recently. Chris, 34, and Martin, 37, grew up in New Jersey. Their first creature adventure was with toads, frogs and raccoons while camping. What is it like to be on TV? Chris: It is great to be on TV, but it is not the most exciting part. The most exciting part is to go around the world and live with the animals for a while and see what their lives are like.

I was waiting for an editor's response to a story proposal. Instead, the mailman brought to my backwoods 80 an invitation from the editor of National Geographic. "Come with us and visit America's deserts, mountain trails and historic sites," he wrote. "Meet fascinating people from the Andes to the Sahara. Journey through the realm of meteorites and comets. Discover wildlife such as sharks, lemurs and red crabs. And learn about the world of jade." Such persuasive mail makes me straddle the figurative fence between "yes" and "no."

By Jo Ingles COLUMBUS, Ohio, May 22 (Reuters) - Ohio state lawmakers on Tuesday approved restrictions on exotic animal ownership that were pressed by officials after a man released dozens of dangerous animals from his farm and then killed himself last fall, touching off a big game hunt to quell a panic. The Ohio House voted 87 to 9 to approve restrictions and the Senate quickly concurred. The bill next goes to Governor John Kasich, who has indicated that he will sign it. Ohio is one of a handful of states that do not restrict ownership of exotic animals and attempts to craft legislation have drawn criticism from private animal owners as too tough and from animal rights activists as too weak.

Parents trying to resist Disney's T. rexof a marketing campaign for this week's VHS and DVD release of "Dinosaur" may no doubt come to feel like the defenseless creature who is consumed by the ferocious Carnotaur in the film's prologue. Will children mind that the story (orphaned dino adopted by lemurs joins a migrating dinosaur herd in search of nesting grounds) is derivative and the voice cast (D.B. Sweeney, Julianna Marguilies) uncharacteristically bland? No, because the computer-generated dinosaurs romping and stomping in photorealistic backgrounds are absolutely awesome.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (Reuters) - Ohio Governor John Kasich signed into law on Tuesday new state restrictions on the ownership of exotic animals following the slaughter last year of dozens of wild animals freed by a man before he committed suicide. Until now, Ohio had no restriction on the ownership of exotic animals such as the lions, tigers, leopards, monkeys and bears Terry Thompson released from his farm near Zanesville last October. In the surreal, tragic incident, authorities gunned down most of the 56 animals in a shoot-to-kill hunt through Ohio farmland after finding Thompson dead and numerous empty cages.

It's a shame that "Scout's Honor," which will be broadcast Tuesday on WTTW-Ch. 11, airs at 10 p.m. and not earlier in the evening. This documentary offers families, particularly scouting families, much to discuss about responsibility, activism and the role individuals can play in standing up for what they believe. Winner of the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival, "Scout's Honor" chronicles the controversy surrounding the Boy Scouts of America's policy of excluding homosexual leaders, a right upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.